WLOX Weather Update with Meteorologist Taylor Graham

for all right hey there south Mississippi meteorologist Taylor Graham here coming in from our digital desk in The Newsroom this afternoon just wanted to give everyone a quick weather update de diving a little bit more into the forecast not only today but also this week and throughout the week starting from now you will be seeing us meteorologist your first alert weather team coming with you with the latest weather information at times during our shift so we'll go ahead and take a look at what's going on right now may have already seen some of that rainfall around the area as we head into the afternoon we are going to continue to keep a chance for seeing some of those Hit or Miss showers and storms key words there are Hit or Miss similar to yesterday some of us may get caught under some heavy rainfall others of us may not see anything at all we are definitely in our very classic summertime pattern here in south Mississippi and of course along with that comes the heat and humidity in fact because many of us have seen some sun shine today we've already warmed up into the upper 80s and low 90s even this evening keep your umbrella nearby we still could see some of those showers and maybe even a few thunderstorms sticking around right now in gulport it's hot it's humid we're sitting at 90 heat index at 101 which of course is hot but as we know for this time of the year it could be worse we are seeing due points in the mid to Upper 70s meaning we have a lot of moisture in place and you can certainly feel that as you step out the door today and that high humidity not only sticking around today but also for quite some time it is July after all it's probably not going to be until I'm going to say maybe October that we finally get a little bit more relief from the heat and humidity where we've had a little more rainfall things are just a bit cooler at this point or at the time of this at about 1:25 we're seeing some of those low 80s up into Wiggins Perkinston hotter though closer to the coast where we haven't had as much rain we're sitting in the low 90s in pasula Van Cleave right now sitting at 89 888 over into Bay St Louis and I would say that high humidity causing the heat index right now to be in the triple digits almost across the board with the exception of those areas that have seen a little bit more rain so we can see First Alert radar at at this time showing some of those scattered showers and thunderstorms up into Pearl River County also up into Stone County it looks like these are moving in and out fairly quickly that's good news regarding the flooding potential for us still could see some heavy rainfall in a short amount of time that may lead to some localized flooding but thankfully doesn't look like these are going to be sitting around uh for much longer up into Pearl River and Stone County they are moving in and out however we're not done the day has just begun still could see more of these showers and storms develop later in the afternoon and also into the evening so generally speaking Inland areas have seen the most rainfall over the past 24 hours many of us on the coast haven't seen much at all we did see a couple of isolated showers earlier today uh south of I 10 in Harrison County but I will say over the past six days or so this is a look at our radar estimates over the past six days since last Wednesday we've picked up a good bit of rain across the area in fact some spots have picked up roughly 7 to8 Ines of rain over the past 6 to 7 days so by no means are we in drought conditions that is some good news if you remember from last year it was incredibly hot but also dry in terms of rainfall at least at this point drought is not too much of a concern especially since over the past several days we've been seeing those scattered showers and thunderstorms but additional rainfall with the ground being somewhat saturated could lead to some localized flooding so just a heads up on that as I widen out this view we can see a boundary toward North well to North I might add and you may notice that south of the boundary there's a lot of cloud cover quite a few more showers and thunderstorms and that's where most of the moisture is at this point north of the boundary not seeing as much rain that's where we have some of that drier air in place now specifically along Coastal Texas and Louisiana we've got plenty of showers and thunderstorms over there got a good bit of tropical moisture moving up from the southern Gulf of Mexico over parts of Texas and also Louisiana those areas are going to have the higher chance of seeing some flash flooding today and possibly even into tomorrow now this is a rainfall forecast over the next 5 days some of those areas maybe picking up an additional 3 to 6 Ines of rain for us locally we're more so looking at about an additional 1 to 3 in over the next four to five days now of course if some of us see some stronger thunderstorms that would lead to uh some heavier totals possibly over 3 in but generally speaking 1 to three is going to be a pretty safe bet over the next 5 days or so but again the farther you are to the West the more moisture there is and that's going to be the higher risk of flooding especially for today so those areas highlighted in yellow they are under a level two or slight risk of flash flooding today and also tonight now parts of south Mississippi today under that marginal or level one risk of flash flooding if we get any flooding today I do expect that to be much more localized and our Inland areas have been seen more of that rainfall so I would say today Inland spots may have a slightly higher chance of seeing some of that flooding more so than the coast but overall the flooding risk today not too terribly High just a heads up that some of these showers and storms could produce some heavy rain in a short amount of time going back to satellite and radar here we can see widespread showers thunderstorms and parts of Southeast Louisiana looks like some of those may be moving up into New Orleans and if you have plans to travel today farther west maybe along I 10 throughout Louisiana just a heads up maybe getting a little dicey at times with those showers and storms and of course that heavy rainfall could lead uh to some flooding on the road at least for the time being I 10 here in south Mississippi weather not too much of a concern we're just seeing a mix of sun and clouds a little bit closer to the coast here and if you're going to be traveling eastbound into Alabama the Florida Panhandle later today still could see some of those potty showers and storms but those are very typical of this time of the year so this afternoon I can't guarantee that everyone is going to be seeing rainfall these showers and storms are very hit or miss and if you've been living around here for a little while you know this is fairly typical for this time of the year especially in the afternoon and early evening with those spotty showers and thunderstorms those of us that get rain will cool down a little bit those of us that don't will be stuck into the upper 80s and low 90s now our latest run of futurecast does show some of that tropical moisture moving in later this evening and overnight tonight not going to roll that out uh with plenty of moisture in place we may see some of those showers and storms hold together but as we lose the daytime heating very late tonight into early Wednesday morning it does look like some of that rain will begin to diminish and move out of the way now tomorrow morning few Coastal showers and storms not out of the question can't completely roll that out but we do expect us to have a better chance of rain tomorrow afternoon and evening compared to the morning and just like today some of those showers and storms may produce some heavy rain in a short amount of time I know I sound like a broken record but once again those of us that get the rainfall tomorrow we will be able to cool down a little bit those of us that don't see much rain well you can expect temperatures in the upper 80s and low 90s Now by Thursday and Friday things maybe not getting quite as rainy but the catch with that is temperatures are going to start to increase once we get into Thursday Friday and Saturday I will say the forecast as a whole this week is very consistent which is again typical for this time of the year so temperatures on the coast Thursday Friday Saturday even into Sunday likely going to be hovering around 90 Inland areas a little bit farther away from the water could expect to warm up a few degrees more than that looking more so at the mid90s by the middle to end of this uh week so the weekend very summerlike of course it's going to be hot it will be humid and we can't completely rule out a few more spotty showers and thunderstorms however our upper level pattern changes just a little bit by Friday and Saturday we've been under the influence of a trough to our North that's allowed uh some of those showers and thunderstorms to develop more quickly a trough is generally an area of low pressure uh in the upper levels this is showing an area of high pressure in the upper levels getting a little bit closer to us by Friday and Saturday high pressure generally means more sinking air which helps prevent as many showers and storms from developing I'm still not rolling out a few Hit or Miss showers and storms Friday Saturday and into Sunday but the rain may not be quite as widespread going into the weekend so maybe that is some good news if you have outdoor plans but on the flip side when we have a ridge of high pressure over us that means things are going to be a little bit hotter thankfully the ridge isn't going to be too strong to where the heat will be unmanageable we are looking at temperatures close to average for this time of the year near 90 but we may not get as much rain by the weekend to cool us off a little bit more still though not much going on in the Tropic so I'll take the heat any day over having to deal with the tropical system we can see here in our forecast rain chances just a little lower by Friday and Saturday they don't completely go away but they're going to be a bit more isolated it looks like uh heading into the weekend now going back to the tropics really quick again really not expecting any development over the next 5 to 7 Days uh look like we have maybe a few little disturbances way out there in the Atlantic no development expected with those as a whole the Atlantic relatively quiet and part of the reason why is we're still seeing these big plumes of Saharan dust moving over the open Atlantic and some of that moving into the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico if you notice the sky looking a little hazy at times it may be due to some of that Saharan dust and according to this model we've got more on the way going into the weekend and even early next week now it's not untypical for this time of the year for the tropics to be quiet the middle to end of July typically doesn't bring a ton of tropical activity although it certainly is possible so with the tropics being quiet right now that's not too unusual however once we get into mid late August that's when the tropics really begin to ramp up especially into parts of September and even early October uh we really have to keep a close eye out on the the tropics but thankfully for today Tropics are not too much of a concern at least we can take it easy for a little bit longer before hurricane season begins to ramp up by August and September uh really looking at a very summerlike 7-day forecast again lots of heat humidity Hit or Miss showers and thunderstorms Tuesday today Wednesday into Thursday ring chances look a little bit lower once we get into Friday and Saturday not by much uh I will say it makes her job a little easier with the forecast being so consistent hopefully that makes your life a little easier too and especially not having anything to deal with in the tropics certainly uh helps us out quite a bit overnight lows generally staying in the mid uper 70s these are temperatures that are very close to average for us on the coast I will say those 90s those highs right around 90 that's more so for the coast if you live inland north of I 10 you probably going to be able to heat up a little bit more into the low to mid90s uh at that point so to wrap it up very summerlike pattern heading into the rest of the week tonight if you have plans to be out and about not a bad idea to keep your umbrella nearby just in case you see some more of those passing showers and even a few thunderstorms um that's going to be the case tomorrow and into Thursday very consistent pattern setting up over the next several days just just a little bit hotter it looks like by the weekend but hey that makes for a great pool weekend uh for a lot of us with those uh high temperatures and the 90s so uh hopefully this has been helpful to everyone just diving in a little bit more into weather and like I said starting from here on out we are going to be doing more of these live streams uh more of these videos just giving a little bit more in depth about our forecast and what's going on in the world of weather around here thankfully we didn't have to dive in too much into the tropics those are remaining quiet but of course as we get into August and September we're likely going to be talking more and more about the tropics but this is one other resource that you could look into with our F alert weather team to get the latest information on that and knock on wood hopefully we don't have to do too many tropical updates but history tells us that by August and September things usually ramp up and we are still expecting a very active season this year uh so to wrap it up thank you guys for joining me and I look forward to doing the next one here shortly